Masonry Magazine February 2004 Page. 21
Compared to just a few years ago, the trim level in a $27,000 list-price truck seems out-of-place for work.
In the "glory days" of choice in the automotive industry (1957-73), the options list for anything on four or more wheels could run to many pages; not any more. Where Henry Ford supposedly claimed the customer could have any color he wanted so long as it was black, today's customer often has only a color choice to make, everything else is standard.
That doesn't seem to be the case with the mainstay of construction haulers, the full-sized pickup truck. Like the standard automobile, pickup trucks once came in one size: big. Now they come in compact, intermediate, full-sized and really big. They come with one, one-and-a-half, or two doors on each side; bench seats, bucket seats, jump seats and a variety of combinations; long beds, short beds, extended beds and, somewhere, probably bunk beds. They have V-6, V-8, V-10, 1-6 or 1-4 engines, but not all available in all body styles.
Much of what is standard today was once an option. Automatic transmissions, for example, are almost universal, even in the full-sized pick-up. What is optional today and there isn't too much in this category inside the vehicle approaches the level of a luxury car. You'd hate to think of a mason fresh from the mortar mixer, jumping into one to run down to the diner for lunch.
We took two pickups for test drives to see how the truck is evolving from a harsh driving, solidly sprung workhorse to a boulevard cruiser. Here is how they compared.
Dodge Ram 1500 SLT
Our Dodge was a standard cab (two-door), two-wheel drive, short-wheelbase vehicle with the ubiquitous automatic transmission and the new 345 HP, Hemi-head 5.7L V-8. Both the engine and transmission, a five-speed automatic, are optional on the SLT trim level truck we drove. A heavy-duty, five-speed manual transmission is standard, as is the 235 HP 4.7L V-8 on the SLT. An optional full-time four-wheel drive system and new "Tow/Haul" transmission are also available.
The "Tow/Haul feature provides crisper shifts and reduces gear searching when towing. The system will also select a lower gear in downhill conditions to use the engine's braking capability.
The coil spring independent front suspension on our two-wheel drive truck and a torsion bar independent front suspension on four-wheel drive models tends to improve ride quality and quietness. For extreme conditions, ground clearance is 9.5 inches. The rear suspension uses leaf springs designed to reduce wheel hop, especially when light or unloaded, and improve durability.
The test truck had several options that might not be valuable for a mason contractor, such as 20-inch chrome rims, and a few like the trailer towing group that are ideal. That group Includes a heavier battery (at 70 amps), Class IV receiver for the hitch, and a standard wiring harness and mounted connector.
Our truck also had the "Work Special package, it seems. This package consists of a dark gray rear bumper, dark gray front fascia, and gray grille. All the better to "play in the dirt" as work trucks tend to do.
February 2004
Masonry 19